The moving city of Salzburg as a huge fitness park! Walking as a new hobby or exercising outdoors to strengthen muscles. If there is one positive thing, we have learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is the awareness that outdoor exercise is very important for the well-being and health of the population. Around 80 percent of the citizens of Salzburg exercise without being member of a club. Because for them, the entire city is a space for physical activity.
A survey conducted in spring 2021 by the Institute for Basic Research, in which 700 citizens of Salzburg were asked about their sports and exercise behaviour, showed that sporting activity is very popular among Salzburg's urban population. 51 percent of those surveyed do sports several times a week, another 22 percent even every day and nine percent once a week. Only five percent say they never do any sports - according to the results. It emerged above all that self-organised forms of exercise are preferred, irrespective of club membership. As a result, nature, open spaces and streets in cities are increasingly becoming places for sporting activity.
With the Moving-City-Project ("Bewegte Stadt"), the city of Salzburg is to become a huge fitness park as it provides the population with large play, sports and exercise areas. The specific objective is to create attractive and low-threshold opportunities for exercise in public spaces or to make the existing infrastructure more useful and visible. "We want to integrate the exercise offers into the everyday life of the people of Salzburg. This also includes that free access to exercise and sports facilities will have to be further expanded. With the 'Bewegte Stadt' project, the places where people live and work are to be designed in a way that invites them to exercise," explains Deputy Mayor Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ), who is responsible for municipal sports matters.
For this purpose, Mag. Michael Mayrhofer - sports scientist and expert of unbound-non-organised sports was won for this project at the project start. He brought in the following considerations to the project:
that the social development towards individualisation must also be taken into account in the field of physical activity.
that the social aspect to provide "free of charge accessibility and in particular also in the city districts” is guaranteed
that target groups that are underrepresented in the physical activity sector are motivated to exercise
that a scientific background in exercise and sports medicine is also taken into account for trend topics
As a lighthouse project and for the better visibility of the "Moving City", Mag. Mayrhofer also designed a special "activity island" (=multifunctional training facility that enables strength, mobility and stretching training on approx. 12 sqm), which was then certified by the technical inspection association TÜV.
Physical activity opportunities in public spaces
One can run, walk, cycle or skate outdoors almost anywhere in Salzburg - along the Salzach river, in the forest or Hellbrunner Allee, on the city hills or even in the old town. In addition, the city of Salzburg offers free access to sports and exercise facilities in public playgrounds and parks. Thanks to generous open spaces and the intentional avoidance of defined sports areas in the parks, soccer, volleyball, Frisbee, slacklining, juggling, yoga, etc. can take place next to and with each other without restriction. For the curious, beginners and even the ambitious, bouldering walls, beach volleyball courts, table tennis tables, skate facilities or bike parks are freely accessible and easy to reach in the city area.
The Salzburg Volksgarten
The most comprehensive range of exercise facilities has been available in the redesigned Volksgarten since 2021. The "Park in Motion" combines sports, play and culture and offers, among other things, beach volleyball, streetball, table tennis, bouldering, calisthenics and ball games combined with spacious paths and open spaces and a large playground for both children and youngsters as well as gastronomy, a comprehensive and free range of exercise and leisure activities for the entire city population in the centre of Salzburg.
It is a central place for recreation, exercise and also events. With the redesign of the Volksgarten, the idea was pursued to provide a variety of offers for different target groups during all seasons. In this way, the Volksgarten maintains its traditional importance as a recreational area with sports, play and entertainment facilities for over 100 years.
The Volksgarten playground is the oldest playground in the city of Salzburg. With a new large water playground, an innovative high rope play equipment as well as new swings, sand play equipment and physical activity offers on an area of approx. 4,000 sqm, the playground in the Volksgarten is a real play highlight.
The new high ropes course in the Volksgarten is around 4.5 metres high and certified by the Technical Inspection Association (TÜV). To reach the upper level, a mini bouldering wall, climbing poles or a suspended ladder have to be conquered. This is the "natural" age limit if parents do not help. Once at the top, courage and skills are required - the "climbing garden" can be climbed around via interconnected surfaces or a thick rope. The bark mulch fall protection provides safety.
"With the high ropes course, we have chosen a piece of playground equipment that is unique in Salzburg and also challenges the children in a sporting way. The first water playground in the city promises both fun and cooling for the children during the hot summer months," says Deputy Mayor Barbara Unterkofler, who is responsible for this department.
The water playground makes the hearts of the very young Volksgarten fans beat faster: a hill, two fountains, wooden gutters, a stone "stream" and lots of sand and slush promise pure water play fun. "The location between the Gersbach and the Salzach is of course perfect for the first water playground in the city," Christian Stadler, head of the municipal gardens, is pleased to note.
For those who prefer to stay on the ground, the Supernova - a "spinning carousel" - offers the "feeling of surfing", and there are also table tennis tables as well as ground play markers. In addition, there is a toddler play area for age-appropriate climbing. Parents can keep an eye on them from the new circular bench installed around a "chestnut tree" which offers a pleasant microclimate.
Activity islands and calisthenics facilities
To date, nine calisthenics facilities and six physical activity islands have been built, which can be used for stretching and strengthening exercises throughout the city. Another one is to follow in 2023. Currently, full-body workouts under professional guidance are already taking place at regular intervals at the new facilities for a wide variety of target groups, including women, runners and "best agers". The aim is to make people aware that these facilities can be used by anyone, regardless of age or fitness level. The possibilities are numerous and the exercises can be varied in many ways. Further explanations can be found on a display board at the facility. This may minimise barriers to starting a more active lifestyle.
Sports Centre North
With its completed outdoor facility, the North Sports Centre has an enormously high status in the "Moving City". With an open and modern utilisation concept, the sports areas can be used by all sports enthusiasts and clubs during opening hours. With the expansion of the new facility, a significant contribution is being made to cover the increased demand for physical activity and exercise areas. This is a milestone for mass and competitive sports in Salzburg.
Since this year, the "Moving Sports Afternoon" has also been on offer. Over a series of ten dates, participants have the opportunity to try ball games, do gymnastics and improve coordination once a week at the North Sports Centre. What is special about this new workshop series is that, in addition to the children's training, there is also a separate programme for accompanying persons. The kids can let off steam and try new things on challenging exercise courses. "Through the changing thematic focuses, everybody interested in physical activity has the chance to try out different sports, to have fun and even discover talents. All in the spirit of the Moving City," adds Deputy Mayor Bernhard Auinger, who is responsible for sports matters. For parents, grandmas and grandpas or carers who bring the kids to the training sessions, there is also a sporting offer available. This actively counteracts standing on the fence for hours: yoga and Pilates classes or running training sessions are available to work on one's own fitness in the meantime. In this way, both kids and adults will benefit and go home exhausted.
Target group children and young people
Children and young people are the future of our society and are therefore an important target group of the Moving City. Sports and exercise not only promote physical and mental health, but also help to develop social and emotional skills. This year, the "Ice-Action-Day" in the Volksgarten was extended for the first time and one activity day was organised especially for schools, where everything from figure skating to ice hockey and curling could be tried out. The demand was very high. It is therefore planned to extend the "Ice Action Day" to two days next year.
In June, there was the "Sports Action Day" in the North Sports Centre, the summer counterpart. The aim here is to show the approximately 1,000 registered children aged 4-14 the whole range of different exercise options and various sports and to invite them to try them out.
Calisthenics facilities and activity islands should also become a fixed part of everyday life at a young age. The basic idea of the Calisthenics School Project is therefore to make the new facilities known to schools that are within walking distance of activity islands / calisthenics facilities. During the gymnastics lesson, the pupils and the teaching staff are shown the first exercises and training possibilities under the guidance of a trainer. This project serves to increase the level of awareness of the installations and to generate lasting usage behaviour both in the school environment and in private homes. In the first season, about 40 classes and 900 pupils took part. Sports project coordinator Julia Zweimüller sums up: "The long-term goal is, of course, that the teaching staff will independently visit the facilities with the pupils and complete an "outdoor" gymnastics lesson with them. We also hope that the young people will use the calisthenics facilities for training during their leisure time.
APP and go!
Since June 2023, all sports offers of the Moving City have also been available on smartphones. The new app provides a good overview of all upcoming dates and sports offers. Sports project coordinator Sabine Pichler was involved in the conception of the app together with Michael Mayrhofer and explains: "We have succeeded in achieving our goal of developing a user-friendly application in which we display the nearest physical activity offers of the Moving City", and continues: "The app guides us from our doorstep to the desired running route, event or leisure facilities in the city. For example, one can be navigated to the nearest activity island. All our exercise workshops are visible at a glance. Our selected running routes which are spread across the city, are also important highlights."
Additional offers
The Moving City programme is constantly being expanded to include more thematic focuses in order to offer the population a wide range of activities.
In June, a Pilates series took place at one of the calisthenics facilities. In the North Sports Centre, there are free beach volleyball training sessions every six months and a beach volleyball competition was held for the general public. Another highlight are 12 new running routes in the city area, which can be explored by the population at running workshops under professional guidance.
All offers are free of charge and are very popular among the citizens of Salzburg.
Conclusion
Physical activity in public space encompasses many, sometimes divergent, target groups. The overarching goal of all projects and events is to get all groups of the population exercising without major hurdles - be it with improved sports offerings or better visibility of existing sports opportunities. Sports and exercise should be part of our everyday lives. It is our desire and goal to inspire and convince people with sports offers that are easy to practise.
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